The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1887-05-20
CHINESE BOYS Ar PLAY.
How They Amuse Themselves with kites
Tops and ShuttlecOel<a.

How They Amuse Themselves with Kites,
Tops and ShuttlecocIxs.
A peep into the play corner of Chinese
boy makes plain the fact that few playthings
suffice for the pleasures Of the youth of the
Flowery Kingdom, says writer in the San
Francisco Chronicle. Dolls there are to be
sure, but the girls make little of them, and
they are often petted and patted by the boys.
There does not seem to be as much of the
make-believe among the childish players Of
Chinatown as there is among white children.
Although joss appeals to their imagination,
doll is only doll. This may be accounted
for by the fact that about the time when they
would naturally begin to take most interest
in wax features and sawdust bodies their at
tention is called to dolls of flesh and blood.
Hardly has the female Monaghan begun to
steady herself in her clumsy shoes when she
is made saddle-horse for the month-old
tots of her own or some other family.
But beside the human playthings, there are
odd puzzles to be put together or strung into
about, balls with strings attached, that they
may not be lost, and colored blocks with
which to build wonderful houses, bridges and
towers; diminutive junks to pull about on
the floor and toy mirrors in which to scan
small yellow features and narrow black eyes.
The abacus, or mechanical counter, is placed
in the hands of the youth at very early age,
and it is wonderful to Americans how quickly
mathematics are mastered in this manner by
little fellows hardly knee high.
Chinese boys from eight to twelve years Of
age play an odd game with sticks of wood
about three feet long. A stick is grasped near
the middle and thrown sideways, the object
being to cross it upon another stick lying
upon the ground. The secret of the game
and the points to be made have never been
mastered by the American boys who hang
about the outskirts of Chinatown.
so
never fails to arouse the interest and envy of
the white boys. 1t is played with a loaded
cork bestuck with feathers. The game is to
keep the cork in the air. The first player
throws up the shuttlecock, and before it
again reaches the earth ne twists his foot and
gives the descending object kick with his
heel which sends it up into the air, some
times as high as twenty feet. When it
descends again he tries to keep it within
range of his heel as long as possible, but the
play soon fails to be exclusive; other boys
standing anxiously about manage to get
kick at it, sending it away from the first
player, who then joins the outsiders in gem
eral scramble to gain possession. Sometimes,
in the heat of the play, when the crowd is
punched together the shuttlecock is struck
by the hand but that is not allowable unless
it is in danger of reaching the ground before
their hands in their sleeves, hitting the feath-
cry object only with the heel, and thus keep
ing it from the ground for hours at time
Great skill is necessary for this game and
where American boys have undertaken to
play it with the heather they have always
cut sorry figure.
When kite-fying is to be considered, the
Chinese of any age are always children. Old
men take as keen delight in sailing paper
dragons and birds as boys of ten But this
does not detract from the pleasure of the boys,
who unwind the kite string and watch their
cherished toy float away with an interest
that flags not with each successive aerial
fight. More Chinese kites are flown by
American boys in San Francisco than in any
other city in the United States, but one is not
often afforded the spectacle of Celestial
youth flying kite even in this cosmopolitan
place, as they are usually sent up from the
roofs of buildings out of view from the
street.
Top7spinning is favorite amusement, and
in this the Chinese are experts. The length
of time in which they can Keep the humming
object in motion is quite remarkable.